Teen Testifies In Yukon Abuse Case

Investigators said John and Sonja Kluth abused their three foster children.

According to court documents, the Kluths locked their children in a storm cellar, fed them dog food, locked one in a dog crate and, on one account, whipped a victim with a horse whip and told them to “take it like a slave.”

The couple was arrested after one of the children ran away and was found living in a box behind a store.

The 16-year-old said that at one point, he was locked in a dog kennel for one or two weeks. He said he was allowed out only the morning to clean his "bucket" and to eat a meal. To pass the time he would "just sit there," he said.

The teen told the judge he and his siblings were starved, beaten, and locked in cages meant for dogs. The boy said he crawled out of his shelter after not getting fed dinner last December and started running toward Oklahoma City.

The teenager told the judge he "hadn't been to school in four years," and "hadn't been allowed to leave the house since last June."

Raw Video: Court Appearance

The boy also said his mother "would use pliers and a clothes pin to pinch his penis when he would leak his pants."

John and Sonja Kluth each face six counts of child abuse, and authorities said the couple is set to return to court for a formal arraignment in August.

After the teen broke out of the kennel to get some food, he said, the Kluths started locking the kennel with a padlock.

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